SM Prime set to expand SMX Manila
MANILA, Philippines — SM Prime Holdings Inc. will double the footprint of its main convention center in Pasay City with an upcoming P1.7-billion development, banking on the rising demand for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) facilities.
The real estate giant on Wednesday said the upcoming SMX Center for International Trade and Exhibitions (SMXCITE) would add over 18,000 square meters (sq m) of leasable trade hall space.
Once completed, the entire SMX Convention Center Manila—the venue for some of the largest corporate and pop culture events in the country, including the annual AsiaPOP Comicon—will have over 35,000 sq m of space.
This is around half the size of Hong Kong’s AsiaWorld-Expo (70,000 sq m), where major world trade expos and events have been held, including Mnet Asian Music Awards, and the neighboring Mall of Asia Arena (64,000 sq m). The floor space is also equivalent to 83 standard basketball courts.
Set to rise within the 67-hectare SM Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay, SMXCITE will also feature two buildings capable of hosting at least 18,000 guests each.
“This expansion reflects our confidence in the Philippines’ growing stature in the MICE space,” Peggy Angeles, SM Hotels and Conventions Corp. (SMHCC) executive vice president, said in a statement.
READ: Philippines eyeing bigger slice of US, Japan, South Korean MICE markets
Convention centers are crucial facilities that can accommodate large trade fairs and expos, especially helping showcase and grow small and medium enterprises (SMEs), a critical pillar of the Philippine economy. According to Colliers Philippines, the government is positioning the Philippines as a key MICE destination in the world.
“With world-class infrastructure and a strategic location, we believe Manila can rival regional peers as a go-to venue for international trade events,” Angeles added.
READ: SM Prime readies P15 billion for hotel expansion
Strategic expansion
The facility will likewise grow SM Prime’s total convention portfolio to nearly 60,000 sq m of gross leasable area across eight venues in the country, namely, SMX Aura in Taguig City, SMX Bacolod, SMX Davao, SMX Clark, SMX Olongapo, Sky Hall Seaside Cebu and Megatrade Hall in SM Megamall.
In the first quarter, SM Hotels and Conventions Corp., which operates the SMX facilities, contributed P362 million to SM Prime’s overall earnings, or up 17.15 percent.
This year, SM Prime will shell out P12 billion to expand the capacity and improve the facilities of its office, hospitality and MICE businesses.
Within the next five years, P15 billion will be spent to expand its SMHCC portfolio as tourism recovers and demand for convention properties rises.
SMHCC will build eight new hotels and two convention centers in key destinations, adding at least 1,500 guest rooms in its portfolio of 2,600 existing rooms.
Growth across all its business segments buoyed the first-quarter earnings of SM Prime by 11 percent to P11.7 billion as strong consumption managed to combat the impact of global trade tensions.
READ: Boosting tourism: Exploring the MICE sector in the Philippines
